Midday in Paris

I was in Paris just last week for business for literally 48 hours and I thought about this video when I passed by the Stravinski fountain in Boubourg. Of course many videos have been shot in Paris but I used to love this song as a teenager so I decided to use this instead of others. I was very lucky with the weather since it was sunny and quite warm and we all know how wonderful this city can be when there is also sun and mild temperature. I stayed in a small and cosy hotel close to Charles de Gaulle Etoile called Hotel Des Acacias in Rue des Acacias, in a great and conveniently central location. The price is not particularly cheap but hey what is in Paris? After eating a sandwich nearby I went to my first meeting in the Opera area. Every time I go to Paris and take the metro I always note how many people make a habit of not getting tickets for it and jump over the the entrance even in front of the controllers. Now the ticket entrances are even more complicated (especially with a piece of luggage ) but nevertheless Parisians seem to get more and more athletic and skip their duty to pay. I was very tired and with a very annoying heartburn which was driving me crazy. However, I managed to wonder around a bit and even go for dinner at one of the places suggested on Trip advisor which luckily was in the area Chez Gabrielle. In the Trip Advisor reviews you'll also find mine which is not totally enthusiastic, but having said that I have to admit French cuisine is not one of my favourite. Too much creme fraiche and sauces for my taste. The place is really nice and very warm and cozy atmosphere like dining at somebody's house. I didn't think too much of the food but then again, besides not being a fan of French food I am also a non -meat eater so in France I have a very difficult life. However,I absolutely love la soup d'oignons and everytime I go to France I always order it.

Arc de Triomphe 2 minutes away from my hotel

Stravinski fountain, Boubourg

Soup d'oignons gratineè

When I had it I was in a brasserie on Boulevard de Montparnasse sitting outside in the sun and enjoying the marvels of the city. Another place I would suggest for dinner is a very funny restaurant called Le Crabe Marteau a place where you can eat giant crabs from Bretagne and break them with a wooden hammer. That was a little too hard core for me so I decided to go for oysters and fish. Well the place is nice: I had a newpaper as a tablecloth and a bucket where to throw shells. The waiter was extremely helpful and charming (plus handsome which is always a good thing) and the price reasonable. I would definitely go back there . During the day when I went to my work meetings I found out that one of them was at Boubourg just behind the Centre Pompidou, one of my favourite places in the city . Last time I was in Paris before this one I went to see a wonderful exhibition of Louise Borgeouis but unfortunately this time I couldn't see anything because all the museums are closed on a Tuesday.

My table at Le Crabe Marteau

Centre Pompidou

Old Paris metro signs

I then went to Opera area rue des Capucines for my other meeting and I decided in the end that I would walk from there to my hotel. So I took a wonderful stroll through la Madeleine, Place de la Concorde and all the Champs Elyseè. Very long walk but wonderful. While I was walking through the little park which lead to the Champs Elyseè I was already feeling like a Parisian and strangely enough.. in love . Maybe with somebody back home, or somebody there or even somebody in another country who knows, but in love like I have never been before, because this is what Paris does to you believe it or not. And even if I have very bad memories of this city lovewise, since I broke up with a boyfriend of mine right there almost fifteen years ago and I also broke up with my ex boyfriend (one of the one million times it happened, as who reads my blog already knows) a few days before going to Paris, which made my staying really painful and melencholic, this time it was being in deep love with life and love itself. This is also why I chose Howard Jones' song: I don't think it could have been shot in another place when trying to give a definition of love. And when I was having my pain au chocolat with my cafè au lait sitting on a stool at a lovely boulangerie before taking the train to go on in my journey I repeatedly thought: God bless Paris!

Paris Opera

La Madeleine

Place de la Concorde